


to be where you are

by sqidervbck



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Brotherly Love, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt Jason Todd, Hurt Tim Drake, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Molestation, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, these boys need some love i stg, they're all hurt okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:41:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27697088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sqidervbck/pseuds/sqidervbck
Summary: “You shouldn’t say such… such things, mister K. W-we’re in public, y'know.”Jason was jumping from his seat in a second, eyes scanning the room for a sign of Tim. Because Tim (seventeen year old Tim) could not be flirting with their mark (forty-nine year old Jacob Karvell). Not on Jason’s watch. Tim was a kid! He was like twelve in Jason’s eyes.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Comments: 5
Kudos: 404





	to be where you are

Jason stepped through the crowd, hating the way that sweaty bodies pushed back at him. His eyes trailed across the sea of skin, flooded in pinks and blues and greens from the strobe lights and lasers. It made him claustrophobic as  _ fuck _ , but at least he blended in better.

Apparently Dickie was here, trying to get close to their mark so they could coerce some information out of him. Jason didn’t know much, but B had asked him to be there for backup. Because apparently Jay was just the bats’  _ bodyguard _ now.

He guessed his older brother was talking to their mark by the bar or something by now, acting tipsy and dull since he was always the best at acting drunk. So Jason settled down into one of the booths, calling over a waitress to order some shitty beer and  _ lay back _ .

He’d been sitting down for about five minutes when suddenly his com line sparked with noise.

It was a laugh— a  _ giggle _ really. Dickie sounded super intoxicated by then (courtesy of the acting training), and oddly high-pitched, even for the false drunkenness. The coms had been set up in case things went south, but Dickie sounded  _ fine _ . Maybe he’d accidently turned it on? 

_ Fuck, was Jason gonna have to listen to Dick flirt with their mark all night _ ? Just because his finger slipped onto the wrong button on his com?

_ “You’re very sweet, mister K.” _

And— hold on a fucking second.

That wasn’t Dick. No, that was his  _ replacement _ . Tim. Tim was— was flirting with their mark? What on earth was—

_ Oh shit. Oh  _ **_shit_ ** .

There was a low murmur through the coms (maybe mister K?) before Tim giggled again, hiccuping pitifully. 

_ “You shouldn’t say such… such things, mister K. W-we’re in public, y'know.” _

Jason was jumping from his seat in a second, eyes scanning the room for a sign of Tim. Because  _ Tim _ (seventeen year old Tim) could  _ not _ be flirting with their mark (forty-nine year old Jacob Karvell). Not on Jason’s watch. Tim was a kid! He was like  _ twelve  _ in Jason’s eyes.

When he finally found his little brother, everything went  _ green _ .

Tim —  _ little Timmy _ — was being  _ manhandled _ in Karvell’s lap like he was some fucking second-grade prostitute. No shame to prostitutes though, you gotta do what you gotta do, but—

“ _ Mister… mister… not here.” _ A giggle, a sigh. “ _ We’re gonna g-get in trouble, mister K. _ ”

This man had his hands all over him, gripping his hips and sucking his neck and grinding up because Tim was  _ literally  _ **_in his lap_ ** . His legs were on either side of Karvell, his little heels tapping against the stool legs. He was wearing some black skirt that was barely an inch down his thighs, flaring out to give the impression of hips. Then fishnet stockings that were a bit ripped around the knees, silver heels, big hoop earrings. And a short, silk, silver halter neck top which left his whole back bare. 

“ _ Hehe… I think I’ve had… w-way too much to drink. _ ”

Because  _ apparently _ , this couldn’t get any worse.

Jason pushed his way through the crowd, over to the edge of the bar where Tim and Karvell were situated. 

He just got close enough to catch the man’s “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll take  _ good _ care of you” before he was grasping Tim’s wrist and pulling him off Karvell’s lap. Timmy yelped and stumbled on his silver heels, clutching at Jason to gain the balance he’d lost.

When he looked up at Jason, his eyes narrowed slightly. Before he giggled again and went all dazy to keep up the act.

Karvell stood from his seat, settling down his glass of  _ whatever the fuck _ before waving a hand. “What the fuck, man?”

Jason ignored him, wrapping a tight arm around Tim’s waist. And  _ god _ , there was way too much bare skin. “We’re getting out of here.”

“Who are you? His fucking  _ boyfriend _ ?” Karvell sneered. He then looked to Tim. “I thought you were single, you bitch.”

Tim, knowing this mission was already done for, pulled on a sheepish grin, swaying on his feet. “Whoopsie?”

Jason felt like fucking  _ growling _ by the time they got out of that bar, Tim’s steps finally going from falsely clumsy to genuinely balanced. When they reached the alley beside the club, Tim turned to him with a glare.

“What the  _ fuck _ , Jason!” he shouted.

Jason scoffed. “What the fuck,  _ me _ ? More like what the fuck,  _ you _ !”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“You just let yourself be fucking  _ molested _ by that creep! You’re only seventeen, what the fuck were you thinking?”

Tim glared, crossing his arms. “I was doing my  _ job _ , Jason. And my age doesn’t matter, I’m emancipated anyway.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything!?” Jason cried, throwing up his arms. “You’re a  _ minor _ , being felt up by a fucking 49 year old! Did Bruce know you were doing this? Did  _ Dick _ ?”

Tim was silent, and Jason took that as a  _ no _ . Which—  _ how the fuck did he manage that? _

“Bruce told me  _ Dick _ was on the job,” said Jason.

Tim rolled his eyes. “Dick got called off by Wally for two days. He’d miss this. So I stood in for him and… didn’t tell anyone.”

Jason felt  _ furious _ . Green bubbled in the corners of his eyes and  _ god _ , why would Tim think this was  _ okay _ ?

“Why would you stand in for Dick?  _ Why _ ?”

“Because it needed to be done!”

“Dick could have just  _ waited _ !”

“No. Karvell was leaving for Cali tomorrow so it was either tonight or never. He was gonna be gone for a  _ month _ .”

“Then wait a month!”

“We can’t wait a month of kids being sold this shit and  _ dying _ , just because apparently you’re too protective to have me be felt up for five minutes,” said Tim with a scowl.

Jason shook his head. “We don’t  _ know _ that the drug he’s producing is the same as—”

“We basically do! Bruce is just a fucking  _ paranoid shit _ who needs solid evidence before persecuting someone.”

“That’s rich coming from you, _ Mr Contingency _ .”

They fell into silence as the pair looked each other down, biting their tongue on whatever they wanted to say. Jason was mad. He was  _ so mad _ , that Bruce somehow manipulated Tim into thinking that his own safety — his own  _ comfort _ — was less important than the mission. Because why else would Tim think that a minor being molested by a man thrice his age was  _ okay _ .

“We’re going home,” Jason said finally, turning towards the mouth of the alley.

There was a huff from behind him before Tim was catching up. “Fuck you, Jason.”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure that’s what you wanted  _ Karvell _ to do,” Jason replied coolly, starting his walk towards their car.

“I wasn’t going to—”

Jason suddenly turned, grabbing Tim at the shoulders so that he’d be able to look him in the eye. “Tell me honestly, Tim. How far were you gonna let him go?”

Tim blinked, suddenly taken aback by the question. Like he hadn’t thought about it, hadn’t considered there to be a  _ line _ that couldn’t be crossed.

“I don’t— I don’t know,” Tim whispered.

Jason threw his hands up. “You’re telling me you don’t know if you were gonna let him  _ fuck you _ !?”

“I— no I wasn’t going to—” Tim stopped himself, taking a breath. “I would maybe… get in bed with him, but—”

“For god’s sake, Tim!” Jason yelled. “Don’t you realise how fucked up that would be?”

“It was for the  _ mission _ —”

“Don’t give me that shit, Tim. That’s fucking messed up. I’m—” Jason ran a hand over his face, breathed. “I’ve gotta tell Dick. He’ll be so fucking mad.”

Tim’s eyes blew wide. “What— no,  _ Jay _ .”

“Don’t  _ Jay _ me! You did this to yourself,” Jason scowled.

It was silent when they got to the car, and through the car ride, and even when they got back to Jason’s place and he was chucking sweats at Tim to change into after his shower. His younger brother still looked bitter, but at least the green would finally go from Jason’s eyes when he saw that Tim was no longer wearing that damn skirt and heels.

He texted Dick, telling him that he had to come back to Gotham  _ ASAP _ , since he really didn’t think he’d be able to have this conversation with Tim by himself. And besides, Dick was  _ good _ at this shit. He’d played the big brother role for a third of his life, so he’d know what to do. At least he’d be better than  _ Jason _ .

Although he may have miscalculated a bit, since Dick was charging through the door the next second while being carried by  _ Wally _ (because,  _ duh _ , Dickie would get his super fast friend to speed him over to Gotham).

The older man looked around frantically, looking relieved when he saw Jason sitting on the couch,  _ perfectly fine _ . “Jay? What happened?”

“Uhhh,” he started, glancing at Wally who looked beyond confused, before looking back to Dickie. “We need to talk.”

Suddenly the tension in Dick’s shoulders dropped. He waved a hand at Wally, who rolled his eyes before zipping off again. “I thought you said it was an emergency.”

“I didn’t mean  _ that _ kid of emergency, god—” Jason cut himself off. “Never mind. Look, it’s ‘bout Timbo.”

Dick froze all of a sudden, looking concerned as he walked over to the couch. “What about Timmy?”

Jason sighed. “He… fuck, okay. Um… ya know that case ya were supposed to do tonight?”

The older man nodded with a confused tilt to his brows. “Yeah?”

“Well… Tim decided to step in for ya.”

Dick blinked. Processed. Then blinked again before—

_ “What?!” _

Jason sighed, glancing at the bedroom door where Timmy was supposed to be sleeping (as if he would actually be doing that). “Boss man asked me to check on ya at the club because… well, ya know how he is. And then… well, I realised that it wasn’t ya on the job. I freaked out a bit, because… well he’s just a kid, Dickie.”

Dick still looked shocked. “What did that fucker say to him?”

Jason grimaced. “It wasn’t really what he  _ said _ , per say…”

Pause.

“You’re kidding.” Dick looked horrified. Sick.

Which—  _ yeah _ , Jason felt sick when he saw it too.

“God, Dickie. He was sitting in his  _ lap _ for heaven’s sake. He was just letting that creep  _ molest _ him. And ya should have seen what he was  _ wearing _ . I mean— it seemed  _ real _ ,” whispered Jason. “Ya can’t just get that good first try. He… he’s done it before. Loads of times, by the looks of it.” 

Dick blinked again, breathed, gulped, and then stood up. Jason glanced up in surprise, about to ask what he was doing when suddenly Dickie was heading for Jay’s room that Tim was still in.

Jason ran after his older brother, managing to catch up when Dick shoved the door open and turned to a  _ not-really-startled-but-kind-of-anxious _ Tim.

“What were you  _ thinking _ ?” Dick asked first, not even allowing Tim to speak before he was continuing. “You do not —  _ under  _ **_any_ ** _ circumstances _ — do that again, do you hear me? I’m not letting you be in that position just because of a stupid  _ mission _ .”

Tim blinked, gaped for a minute before shuffling. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, having somehow found Jason’s computer. 

“I… I don’t know why you’re both freaking out about this,” said Tim. “You’ve both done this before, I mean—”

“We did it  _ after _ turning twenty, Tim! You’re  _ seventeen _ !” Jason exclaimed.

“So? It’s not like I’m gonna get in trouble, I had a fake ID with me.”

Jason stared in exasperation. “That’s not the fucking problem!”

Tim frowned, eyebrows angled downwards in annoyance. “If you’re just gonna shout at me about my mistakes, then I’ll just leave.”

Dick sent a  _ shut up _ look to Jason, who rolled his eyes with a huff. And then Dick was kneeling down in front of the bed, shoving the computer to the side so that he could look Tim in the eye.

“Tim,” he started. His voice was soft and stern, and Tim looked just as nervous as Jason felt. “Why did you think that doing that was okay?”

Tim looked confused. “Because… because it was for the mission. It was necessary.”

Dick whimpered. “Timmy, that’s— that’s not okay. A minor shouldn’t have to ever put themselves in that situation in order to achieve anything. They should never prioritise the  _ mission _ above their  _ comfort _ .”

Tim gulped, glancing at Jason who just raised a brow pointedly. “I still… why is it so bad?”

“Timbo, it’s basically prostitution, except yer getting information instead of money,” Jason commented.

“But—”

“Tim.” And Dick’s voice was barely a whisper now, full of so much emotion that Jason was kind of scared. “What happened… to have you value your dignity so poorly?”

And— well, Jason hadn’t really thought of it. It made sense really, but Timmy never really showed signs of anything. And he didn’t say anything, unlike Dickie with that Catalina Flores chic.

Tim looked down at his hands. “N-nothing…”

“Tim…”

He looked up. “It was just— it was  _ nothing _ ! I mean, some Gotham elites have always been a bit touchy and my parents never really cared. And then there’s  _ Ra’s _ , which he’s a whole different story. And then that thing with his sister, but it was  _ nothing _ .”

Jason was confused. “Wait— Ra’s  _ sister _ ? Am I missing something?”

Dick shook his head. “I haven’t heard this either. Timmy?”

Tim sniffed, fiddling his fingers. “It was just… Ra’s wanted an… heir. And so he thought… he thought that if he could get his sister to… to have s-sex with me, then…”

Everything went green again, and Jason had to turn his back to the bed to make himself  _ breathe _ . He wanted to shout, to scream, to  _ kill Ra’s Al Ghul and his fucking sister _ . His blood boiled and everything was so so  _ hot _ .

“Oh, Tim,” was whispered behind him.

“Nothing h-happened though,” Tim said, hiccuping. He sounded on the verge of tears by now and  _ fuck _ , Jason hadn’t prepared for this. It all hit a bit too close to home. “C-cass saved me, so… so it’s  _ fine _ .”

“That’s not fine, babybird,” said Dick. “That would have been terrifying, even if Ra’s sister didn’t get very far.”

There was a moment of silence before Jason could finally turn around, his vision having returned to normal. Dick had made his way onto the bed, sitting next to Tim with his arms wrapped around his shoulders.

When Dick finally spoke up, his voice was soft. “I never told you about… about it, but I was umm… I was raped. A while ago. By this woman called Catalina Flores.”

Tim looked up, surprised. “Tarantula?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry, Dick.”

“No, don’t— that’s not why I told you. I just… I wanted you to know that I understand. And I’m always here because… because I  _ know _ how shitty it can get. And I love you,” whispered Dick.

Tim sniffed and then they fell into silence once again. Jason shouldn’t say anything, he should just leave really. Like,  _ seriously _ , but—

“Ya know I had to do shit to get by when I was on the streets,” Jason commented offhandedly, shrugging when the pair looked up at him. “I was desperate. It was either suck this guy’s dick or starve so… I get it.”

And  _ why the fuck did he say that _ ? That’s completely different! He  _ chose _ to do that, he—

“Little wing,” Dick finally said.

Jay glanced up, shuffling on his feet like a fucking toddler. “Yeah?”

“If you don’t come here and let me hug you then I’m gonna tell Bruce that  _ you _ were the one who spray painted his suit rainbow and covered it in glitter,” his older brother said simply.

And— that wasn’t fair at all.  _ Tim _ had been the one to do that. Jason wasn’t petty enough to— actually, yeah he was petty enough to do that. But that wasn’t the point.

“Fuck you, Dickhead.”

But he let Dick pull him onto the bed anyway, corralling the trio towards the pillows so that he could snuggle them all under the duvet. Tim grumbled and Jason cursed and Dick’s  _ octopus arms _ somehow managed to pull them into a big  _ cuddle pile _ with Tim laying halfway across them with his head on Dick’s chest. His arms were around Jason and it was actually really fucking comfortable but it wasn’t like he was going to admit that outloud.

“You’re both too fucking warm,” Tim grumbled, his head tucked under the duvet.

“It’s like freezing outside,” said Jason, tucking further under the blankets because he was fucking  _ cold _ .

Tim hummed, wiggling further between the two. “I’m never buying a hot water bottle again, you guys are my hot water bottles.”

“I’m so happy to be subjected to being a fucking  _ hot water bottle _ , babybird—”

“Shush, little brothers,” hushed Dick, tightening his grip around the two. “We’re sleeping, and nobody’s leaving during the night. And then we’re having a nice breakfast that Jay will make us and then we’re watching movies all day because we deserve it.”

It was silent for a moment.

And then, “thanks, Dick.”

Jason couldn’t help but think that somewhere along the line, despite their fuck ups, he was grateful to have these two shits.


End file.
